Pile or tufted sheet fibrous material



July 28, 1931.

B. H. FOSTER ETAL FILE OR TUFTED SHEET FIBROUS MATERIAL Filed March '7,1929 m V 0 r mi N mm .0 q T. m r M ,Q. 1 Mm pg mm v mw 1 u B PatentedJuly 28, 1931 UNITED STA TES PATENT OFFICE BOUTWELL H. FOSTER, OFMAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY AND KENNETH 1B. COOK, OF

WINNSBORO, SOUTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNORS TO THE MECHANICAL RUBBER COM- PANY,OE CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY PILE OR TUFTED SHEETFIBROUS MATERIAL Application filed March 7, 1929. Serial'No. 345,040.

This application is a continuation in part of our copending applicationSerial No. 247,768, filed J an. 19, 1928.

This invention relates to a pile or tufted sheet fibrous material, andmore particularly to a material suitable for use, as carpet, rugs,upholstery and draperies.

Various tufted or pile fabrics are on the market for use as carpets,rugs, etc., but these materials are expensive by reason of their methodof manufacture and the means employed to secure the tufts or pileagalnst displacement. Ordinarily the tufts or pile are introduced intothe fabric and secured against displacement by the weaving process, andthis involves the use of expens ve machinery and additional fibrousmaterial, and the resulting base fabric including an anchorage for thetufts or pile is several times thicker than the plain fabric would beand hence its flexibility is greatly reduced.'

This lack of flexibility is objectionable for many USES.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved andinexpensive tufted or pile sheet fibrous material.

Another object is to provide a tufted or pile sheet material in whichthe tufts or pile are secured against displacement by means of rubber,without substantial .decrease in the flexibility or other usualcharacteristics of the material, and with economy in the use of fibrousmaterial in the base fabric.

Another object is to provide a tufted or pile sheet material having abase of minimum thickness.

For a complete disclosure of the nature and objects of the invention,reference is made to the accompanying specification and drawings, inwhich latter:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged sectional view showing one application of thetufting material to a fabric base; a

Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 after the application of a rubberanchorage to the base and tufting; and

Fi 4'is a cross section of a completed pile abric.

In the manufacture of the sheet material forming the subject matter ofthe present invention, any suitable fibrous base material may be usedwhich possesses the required strength, flexibility and penetrability forthe particular form of sheet material to be made. In the presentinstance there is disclosed a fabric base formed with warp threads 1 andweft threads 2. Any suitable machine may be used to introduce thestrands, cords, yarns, rovings, or other elements 3 which are to formthe tufts or pile in the completed fabric. These strands or elements maybe introduced by rows of needles carrying the strands, which are punchedthrough the fabric and withdrawn to form extended loops 4 on one side ofthe fabric, after which the fabric is moved slightly and the needlesagain enter the fabric to form a row of loops 4 closely adjacent to thefirst row, the operation being continued until the entire fabric isclosely covered on one side with extended loops 4 which are to form thetufts or pile of the finished fabric, 'while on the opposite side theconnecting loops 5 are closely drawn in against the fabric. The needlesfor formmg the loops may carry any desired number of strands, and in thepresent instance two of such strands are shown in each loop.

In the next step, the back of the fabric base, that is, the side onwhich the connecting loops 5 are formed, is covered with a relativelythin film or anchoring coating 6 of rubber to secure the loops 5 to thebase. Ordinary thin solutions of rubber in organic solvents are notsuit-able for the purpose for the reason that only a very smallamount'of rubber can be put into solution and therefore a sufficientthickness of rubber cannot be obtained by a single coating. Moreover,the thin solutlon tends to strike through the base material, while if athick dough is used it will not penetrate the loops 5 sufficiently toproperly anchor them to the base. A further ob ection is that thedeposit of rubber laid down from the cement is relatively tacky and ittends in the. ease of a floor covering to adhere to the floor.Calendered sheet rubber is not suitable for an anchorage because of theexpense and the difliculty of securing a good anchorage to the base andloops 5 unless cement is used, which latter further adds to the expense.Unvulcanized rubber latex of ordinary'concentration and consistency isnot entirely satisfactory for use to form the anchorage since it alsotends to strike into the fabric and thereby stiffen it. For the bestresults it is preferred not to use unvulcanized rubber of any characterby reason of the effects of temperature changes upon it. We have foundthat the most suitable material for the purpose is a concentrated andthickened latex containing a powerful vulcanizing combination which willvulcanizc at ordinary or slightly elevated temperatures. It has alsobeen found that the most suitable latex to use is one which has beenconcentrated preferably by a process which eliminates a fairly largeproportion of the water soluble constituents, such as a creaming orcentrifuging process. If a creaming process be used, a creaming agentsuch as apectin body or an algmate is added in small quantity to thelatex and the latter allowed to stand for a time. The rubber particlesof the latex thereupon concentrate in a to layer while the water andwater solubles form a lower layer. These water solubles may then bedrawn off and the concentrated creamed latex recovered. It is preferredto subject this creamed latex to a second creaming operation to furtherconcentrate and purify it, this being accomplished by diluting it withwater, adding a further amount of creaming agent, and again allowing itto stand. By this second operation, a concentrated latex may be obtainedcontaining 50-55% rubber solids and from which the non-rubberwatersoluble elements have been largely removed.

The creamed latex may be compounded with 3 parts sulphur, 1 part zincoxide, 1 part glue, 1 part sulphonated stabilizing material, and 1 partof zinc dimethylaminodithiocarbamate, these proportions being based on100 parts of rubber. The sulphonated stabilizing agent may be such asthat obtained by the condensation of an aromatic hydrocarbon with analiphatic alcohol in the presence ofsulphuric acid, the commercialproduct known as Nekal being illustrative of such products. Theaccelerator zinc dimethylaminodithiocarbamate may be replaced by anyother suitable accelerator, such as tetramethylthiurammonosulphide ortetramethylthiuramdisulphide. Compounds such as that given willvulcanize at room temperature in two or three months or in a shortertime at a slightly elevated temperature. The compound may be otherwisevaried, such as by the addition of suitable coloring material, fillers,anti spreading or spraying. The material is then dried and allowed tovulcanize at ordinary temperature, or the temperature may be moderatelyraised to. hasten either or both of these steps. If a pilefabric is tobe made, the tops of the loops 4 may be cut in any usual manner.

It has been found that a suitable thickness of the dried and vulcanizedrubber composition is such as to approximate in weight not more than 10ozs. to the square yard, but 3 to 6 ozs. have been found to besuilicient in most cases, the object being merely to apply a film ofsufiicient thickness to properly anchor the tufts or pile.

It is preferred, as before stated, to use for the rubber anchorage avulcanizable natural rubber latex which has been concentrated by acreaming process, since by the removal of water soluble ingredients fromthe latex the resulting deposit of rubber is non-hygroscopic, and byreason of the thickened and concentrated condition of the latex asufficient thickness of rubber may be secured by a single applicationand this deposit of rubber while substantially superficial is yet firmlybonded to the loops 5 and adjacent side of the base. The con centratedlatex does not penetrate the fabric to an extent sufficient to cause anymaterial decrease in the flexibility of the fabric. However, goodresults may also be obtained by the use of latex concentrated in otherways, such as by the use of heat or centrifuging. Moreover, it is notessential to use a concentrated latex, but instead an ordinary latexwhich has been thickened by the addition of compounding ingredients maybe used, or it may be both thickened and concentrated, and for somepurposes a latex containing no vulcanizing ingredients may be used. Itis also within the scope of the invention to use any artificial waterdispersion of rubber, either unvulcanizable, vulcanizable or vulcanized,if so conditioned that it does not substantially penetrate the base.'Any suitable method of introducing the tufted or pile material throughthe base to its lower side may be used as long as the.

portion of the pile material projecting through the lower side of thebase is secured to the latter against displacement by thehereindescribed rubber anchorage. The invention also is not limited tothe use of woven fabric as the base material, since it is obvious that aknitted or felted material paratus and few operations, thereby obviatingthe use of expensive and complicated weaving apparatus for anchoring thetufts or piles and also economizing in the use of the fibrous materialfor making the base. The anchoring film of rubber is so thin that itdoes not appreciably increase the thickness of the base fabric, while bythe previous Weaving methods for anchoring the tufts or pile, the basefabric is increased in thickness several times. Moreover, by reason ofthe thinness of the rubber anchorage of the base fabric and the factthat the rubber does not substantially penetrate the fabric, thefinished material is very flexible. The finished product can be madevery cheaply as compared with the previous tufted or -'pile fabrics, andby reason of its thinness and flexibility is available for use in agreatly enlarged field.

When the phrase, Water dispersion of.

rubber is used in the claims, it is meant to include either natural orartificial .latex whether made from crude rubber or reclaimed rubber.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim and desire to protectby Letters Patent is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet of material comprising abase of fibrous material, a multiplicity of strands of fibrous materialextending from one side of said base and also passing through said baseto its opposite side, and anchoring meansfor said strands on saidopposite side of the base, comprising a deposit in situ from a thickenedwater dispersion of rubber, said deposit being relatively thin andsuperficial, whereby flexibility of the base is unimpaired.

2. As. a new article of manufacture, a flexible sheet of materialcomprising a base of fibrous material, a multiplicity of strands offibrous material extending from one side of the base, eachstrand havinga loop disposed on the opposite side of the base secured againstdisplacement by a thin anchoring coating on said loops and on saidopposite side of the base comprising a dried in situ deposit from athickened aqueous dispersion of rubber.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet of material comprising abase of fibrous material, a multiplicity of strands of fibrous material,each strand having a medial 1gortion adjacent one side of the, base andco end portions extending separately throu h the base and projectingfrom the opposite side to form a pile, each strand being looped in thebase and secured against displacement by an anchoring film of the driedin situ deposit from a thickened water dispersion of rubber secured tosaid medial strand portions and adjacent side of the water solubles,united to the Woven fabric base and anchoring the looped portions of thetextile elements, the thickness of the vulcanized rubber compositionbeing such as to approximate in weight not more than 10 ozs. to thesquare yard.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet of material comprising abase of textile material, a multiplicity of strands of fibrous material,each strand having a medial portion adjacent one side of the base andfree end portions extending separately through the base and projectingfrom the opposite side to form a pile, each strand being secured againstdisplacement by an anchoring film securing said medial strand portionsto the adjacent side of the base, said film comprising a vulcanizeddeposit from thickened rubber latex and an anti-oxidant, said film beingsubstantially thin and superficial whereby flexibility of the article isunimpaired.

6. As a newarticle of manufacture, a base formed of plain square wovenfabric, a multiplicity of strands of fibrous material, each strandhaving a medial portion in contact with one side of the base and freeend portions extending separately through the base and projecting fromthe opposite sideto form a pile, each strand being secured againstdisplacement by an anchoring film securing said medial strand portionsto the adjacent side of the base, said film being substantiallysuperficial and comprising the vulcanized deposit in situ from thickenedrubber latex, the flexibility of the rubber coated article being notsubstantially less than that of the uncoated pile fabric and itsthickness being not substantially greater than that of the fabric andprojecting pile.

